Chapter 594: Inner Demons
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Inside the cabin, a laptop in a ruined shape was constantly oozing some kind of air current.
The current it produced merged into the black mist surrounding it, indicating that the laptop was the source of these black mists.
The subs.p.a.ce countercurrent originated from the laptop.
Chen Chen inspected the laptop with his psionic power and saw a vision of a group of officials from Northern America gathered around the computer. They seemed to be looking at the NASA headquarters footage, but when they opened a video sent from the Event Horizon, something happened...
The subs.p.a.ce countercurrent tossed and decalibrated the aircraft and the scene that happened in the movie unfolded as well. In one part of the movie when one of the rescue crew members approached the Event Horizon’s time warp engine, the engine suddenly morphed into a jet black gooey substance and pulled the rescue crew member inside it...
It released a sudden explosion that tore the rescue ship apart. Left without a choice, the remaining members of the rescue crew had to take the risk and relocate to the Event Horizon.
This was how everything unraveled in the movie. It seemed like the Air Force One had met a similar fate as well.
“If entering the subs.p.a.ce countercurrent is only the appetizer, I’d say we’re looking at the main course now.”
Zhao Shanhe commented light-heartedly before pushing one hand through the laptop screen.
The display was a still pool of black liquid which Zhao Shanhe’s hand entered without encountering any resistance. Then, he moved on with his arm, body, and legs...
In the end, Zhao Shanhe dove completely into the mysterious black pool.
“Are you coming?”
Jenny, who trailed behind Zhao Shanhe, left a quick remark for Chen Chen before stepping into the black pool without hesitation, leaving Chen Chen behind.
Chen Chen chuckled at this remark that seemed to be a challenge. There was not a trace of hesitation in him as well as he put his hand through the pool.
“Zoom!”
A cold sensation ran through his body, then he got sucked into the pool!
Immediately after that, his surroundings took on a rapid transformation. He cautiously wrapped himself with a layer of psionic power as protection before surveying the area.
After looking over his surroundings with psionic power, he relaxed a little. He found himself in a tranquil little path in what seemed like the countryside. There were very few people around here. The only ones he saw was a group of fat-bellied children.
“Hey, Lerigado!”
A heavy hand suddenly placed itself on Chen Chen’s shoulders and made him turn around in alert.
The moment Chen Chen reacted to this sudden intrusion, he felt as if another layer of consciousness was masked over his original conscience.
In this instant, Chen Chen turned into another large-bellied boy with disproportionately feeble limbs and looked at this other person wide-eyed.
“Gurunich!”
Chen Chen turned around and saw it was a dark-skinned boy calling after him. Suddenly, like he was reading off a script, he subconsciously greeted and carried out a conversation like he had known this person all his life, “Have you dug up any cotton leaves? I’ve been searching the entire day but haven’t come into any!”
“This is all I managed to find...”
The boy Chen Chen subconsciously referred to as Gurunich scratched his head irritably but still, he reached into his pocket and retrieved a large handful of “cotton leaves” and stuffed it into Chen Chen’s hand. “This is all I can give you!”
“Haha! Thank you so much Gurunich!”
They both shared a hearty laugh, beaming with childlike innocence.
The sun setting down brought a warm fuzzy feeling to Chen Chen’s chest. The younglings digging vegetables on the outskirts of the village finally returned to the village in groups of three to five.
After traveling down the path, Chen Chen soon saw the unseemly collection of thatched huts line by the side of the winding path. Most of the terrain was taken up by chicken coops and cattle pens near the houses, connected with muddy paths.
The state of these paths could only be described as horrible, far worse than anything even the countryside had ever seen.
However, this sight could not be anything more common for Chen Chen. There was nothing out of place as far as he was concerned. As usual, he returned to the hut had lived in all his life with his family. He went inside and saw five of his siblings gathered together.
They all fixed their gaze on one corner of the house where what seemed like their parents were tending to a fire pit. Placed on top of a fire pit was a black iron pot with jagged edges and a broken handle.
Whiffs of smoke rose from inside the iron pot. Even from a distance Chen Chen could smell their delicious dinner.
“Lerigado is back?”
The young woman in the kitchen turned around upon hearing footsteps from the entrance. Her smile was picturesque, the warm and gentle smile only a mother was capable of. “Sit down, dinner is almost ready!”
“Okay, Mother!”
Chen Chen’s stomach was rumbling with pangs of hunger. Even though he was not particularly hungry upon his return, his stomach was now growling with excitement. He gazed at the iron pot with wondrous delicacies inside and his mouth watered.
After digging cotton leaves the entire day, he was hungry...
The food was prepared after just a short while. Chen Chen picked up a bowl set on the floor and scooped up a sizable portion for himself, then squatted on the floor and dove into his meal. Although the bowl of rice was tasteless and dull, it felt so appetizing at this moment...
The sky had darkened by the time they finished dinner. Chen Chen pulled the sheets of curtain hung over the entrance that served as the door then went to a water well by the door. He took two pails of water and drank like a mule. He looked at the skies above after he drank.
The stars overhead shone radiantly in the cover of the night. The Milky Way was almost visible from his vantage point on Earth. As he basked in the moment, a strange sensation suddenly came to him.
“This is...”
Chen Chen frowned as if jolted awake from a dream. He suddenly recalled that he was entering the subs.p.a.ce with Zhao Shanhe just moments ago. How did he find himself in a place like this?
“Lerigado!”
Father was calling for him, his voice sounded harsh as usual. Chen Chen immediately snapped to his senses and sprinted back into the house.
“Gado, how many times do your mother and I need to repeat this to you? Don’t wander off at night. Do you think we can save you if one of those vagrants gets you?”
Chen Chen’s parents reprimanded him severely. He could not comprehend what was happening. A part of him wanted to leave and find out what sort of strange circ.u.mstances he was plunged into, but another part felt it was right to remain here and wait for his parents to finish.
“I’ll just wait and see what happens...”
Chen Chen figured.
Chen Chen pa.s.sed his days like clockwork. In the blink of an eye, ten years had pa.s.sed him by in this remote African village. What was once a thin and frail boy of six years old had grown into an able-bodied sixteen-year-old teenager.
Chen Chen spent the last decade like a pa.s.senger inside this body, observing the state of the world. He had a faint impression that time was flowing in an irregular pattern over the last decade. There were times where things happened in rapid successions, where many events seemed to occur all in an instant. This strange observation must have something to do with the subs.p.a.ce...
“I wonder how long it will take until I can snap out of this.”
Chen Chen wondered.
Over the last decade, his siblings had all died in one way or another until he was the only one who remained of the original group of children. The good news was that his mother gave birth to a younger sister in this trouble-filled period.
One day, something terrible came upon them...
“A plague, it’s a plague!”
The village chief stood wearily in front of Chen Chen’s parents and watched helplessly as his parents coughed and vomited large clots of blood periodically. His parents at the time were still relatively young and could not be anywhere past their thirties yet but their hair was already freckled with large white spots. They lay on their bed, their strength almost completely drained from their husks.
Chen Chen froze as he saw the scene unfold before him. A thought suddenly occurred to him, could this be the terrible Blacklight virus plague that swept through the region so many years ago?
“This virus claimed hundreds of millions of people in the African continent, could this be...”
Chen Chen quaked inside.
“Lerigado...”
Mother raised her hand that was riddled with pores and made to grab Chen Chen’s arm. “Get out of here, take your sister and leave! Leave the village and head to the Eco Science City some hundreds of kilometers away from our village. You may have a chance at survival if you can get there...”
“Mother...”
A bitter smile surfaced on Chen Chen’s face. After all these years, he finally regained his awareness but still, he found there was nothing he could do except to follow along this predetermined trajectory of this young man called Lerigado who grew up in an African village. The realization of his parent’s death, the parents that he had spent the last decade with pained Chen Chen.
This was nothing that he had ever experienced before. He had never realized that such heartache existed in the world. This sorrow, this unbearable urge to weep, this pain inflicted by the terrible hands of fate...
“Go! Hurry before it’s too late!”
An enormous strength suddenly erupted within his withered parents. This was the last time his father would ever find the strength to sit up and belt at him, “Get out of here!”
Chen Chen clenched his teeth and took his only eight-year-old sister with him. He ran out the door and never looked back at the village that he had spent his entire life in.
‘That’s it. I’m Chen Chen. Even though I’m plunged into this dream state, the Eco Science City exists here as well, which means Little X is here as well. If I can get to Little X, I can get her to cure my dear sister...’
All of this may only be a mirage, a substance of illusion but still...
Chen Chen’s mind raced as he made for the Eco Science City with his sister.
On the way to the Eco Science City, Chen Chen saw the roads paved with countless bodies that succ.u.mbed to the plague. These were the people who were trying to head to Eco Science City, just like himself.
All of them were thinking the same thing as himself. That their only chance at survival was the Eco Science City...
“Lerigado...”
While Chen Chen was dragging his numb legs with his sister on his shoulder, he heard a faint, familiar voice calling out to him from the roadside.
Chen Chen froze and stared at the owner of this voice in disbelief. It was his childhood friend lying weakly on top of a blanket of gra.s.s. There was a weeping baby on his lap.
“Gurunich!”
Chen Chen approached his friend and stared at him with fixed horror in his eyes. The young man who should be st.u.r.dy like himself had become drained and lifeless. Blood seeped out of the crevices in his nose and ears, and his gums swelled with blood as he talked.
“Buddy, I can’t walk anymore.”
Gurunich smiled soberly. “I can hear Death coming for me. I consider myself blessed to at least be able to see you before I go...”
“Stop that, I’ll carry you!”
Chen Chen somehow mustered the n.o.bel sentence from his lips, then he clenched his teeth and tried to carry his sick friend.
“That’s impossible, give up...”
Gurunich wrought himself free from Chen Chen and shook his head. “You won’t get anywhere carrying me, we’ll all end up dead by the roadside that way. I have a terrible favor to ask of you...”
Chen Chen immediately looked at the baby upon hearing this.
“My daughter...”
Gurunich’s lips trembled as he presented his daughter to Chen Chen. “Take my daughter. Her life has barely begun. It’s not right that she should die and rot into the soil like myself...”
Chen Chen looked at this child that he had never seen before until now. His feet were rooted to the ground.
“Please, I beg of you...”
Gurunich’s voice was growing desperate. “This is the only wish I have. I... I beg you!”
As he said this, his arm gave out!
“D*mn it!”
Chen Chen howled and quickly reached for the baby before Gurunich dropped her on the ground. Then he grabbed his sister, pulled her on her shoulder, and ran toward Eco Science City like a madman!
Chen Chen ran and ran until he lost sense of himself before his sister’s crying pulled him back. He panicked upon realizing something and quickly reached for his sister’s forehead to feel her temperature.
Thankfully, thankfully...
Sensing that his sister’s temperature was normal, he heaved a sigh of relief. Then he suddenly noticed that Gurunich’s daughter’s cries were getting weaker...
“Is this reality or not? Why can’t I wake up...”
A wipe of regret surfaced in Chen Chen’s eyes. He made a silent resolution and suddenly placed his finger in his mouth, and then chomped on it!
The terrible pain drilled deep into his body. It also served to alleviate the final trace of doubt in his mind. Before he would change his mind, he immediately put his finger into the baby’s mouth!
“Glug, glug...”
The starving baby finally stopped her crying when Chen Chen did this. She greedily sucked Chen Chen’s finger and nourished herself.
Chen Chen smiled upon seeing this. He lifted a finger again and bit down hard on it...
“Brother, what are you feeding the little girl...”
While Chen Chen was doing everything he could in his power to feed the baby, his sister suddenly asked.
Chen Chen trembled and looked at his sister who was looking at the baby curiously.
“Hold on, I’ll let you eat something after I feed this little one...”
Chen Chen went back to feeding the baby.
...
Three days later.
There was a whistling wind blowing in the wasteland and a cloud of dust was flying in the sky but then, it dissipated again.
Mild gusts of wind blew across the desolate wasteland. Chen Chen trudged across patches of gra.s.s, his feet covered in blood and cuts from rocks. He held a fainted baby in one arm and held the hand of a similarly worn-out young girl with his other arm.
“Brother...”
Chen Chen suddenly felt her hand slipping away. He stopped and looked behind him and saw his sister collapsed on the ground. She did not make a fuss nor did she cry. She only whispered with lifeless eyes, “Brother, I’m so tired.”
Chen Chen’s young sister mustered the last of her strength to form a meek smile and said in a quiet voice, “I’m just going to nap for a short while... Don’t leave me behind!”
With that, she shut her eyes.
“You’re tired? Rest for a while then.”
Chen Chen tried to crouch on the floor but his knees could not handle his weight anymore and threw his entire weight onto the ground.
“Wah... Wah...”
The sudden tremor woke the baby in his arms and she began to cry. Her cries were both frail and hoa.r.s.e.
“Don’t worry, you’re the daughter of a friend of mine, I’ll make sure to feed you...”
Chen Chen muttered and put his bloodied, ruined finger between his dry, cracked lips and crunched on it. Then he put the finger inside the baby’s mouth.
“Eat, eat up...”
Chen Chen whispered dryly. He waited until the baby had her fill and fell asleep again before turning to his sister who was sleeping beside him.
“Wake up, Sister. We need to go to Eco Science City...”
Chen Chen nudged the little girl but she would not respond.
“What a lazy bug you are...”
Chen Chen forced a strained smile and slowly reached for her and tried to feel for a heartbeat.
Her body was cold.
There was nothing that would remotely resemble a heartbeat nor suggest a trace of life...
“....
“Ahhh!!!”
A dry, piercing scream shattered across the wasteland and soon became drowned out by the merciless wind blowing...